Deja vu for Latics in Capital One Cup

ATHLETIC will play Middlesbrough in the first round of next season’s Capital One Cup.

This morning’s draw saw Athletic paired with a team which dispatched them 3-0 at SportsDirect.com Park in last season’s competition. The regionalised draw pits Darren Kelly’s unseeded side against a team which lost in the Championship play-offs.

Rochdale have drawn Coventry at home in the first round which will be held on the week beginning August 10.

Athletic’s recent record in the competition is awful. For the last six seasons Athletic has fallen at the first hurdle.

The last victory was via a penalty shoot-out against Rochdale at home in the 2008-09 campaign. The last three defeats in the competition have been at the hands of championship opponents Sheffield Wednesday (4-2), Derby (1-0) and Middlesbrough (3-0).

Athletic’s fixtures for the new Sky Bet League One season will be revealed tomorrow.

Meanwhile, chief executive Neil Joy hopes a northern bias to next season’s Sky Bet League One make-up will prove a boon for the club.

With the likes of Blackpool, Wigan and Bury new to the division, SportsDirect.com Park could attract a larger number of visiting supporters. Changes to matchday arrangements will see away fans housed in the Chaddy End, while as well as a new north stand there is to be a family section within the Rochdale Road stand.

In playing terms, the group will enjoy the comforts of relatively short travel times. Last season Athletic won away at Doncaster, Crewe, Rochdale, Fleetwood and Scunthorpe but lost after longer trips to Bristol City, Milton Keynes, Gillingham, Leyton Orient, Yeovil and Crawley.

“We are looking at a division that is a 17-7 split, north to south,” Joy said ahead of the release of the new fixtures. “I expect that will mean a few midweek games against local sides too. The extra cost of putting the games on is mitigated by the revenues we hope they will provide.

“It is an interesting time, as we are going through the changes in the Chaddy End, which will be used by visiting supporters. As it is a “northern” league, the level of interest goes up for everyone and with the changes we have made to the ground — not least the singing and family sections — we believe the split will work positively for us.

“It also arguably increases the competitive side of things with so many local games, but we see that as a positive.”



The draw:

Carlisle United v Chesterfield; Nottingham Forest v Walsall; Fleetwood Town v Hartlepool United; Scunthorpe United v Barnsley; Bolton Wanderers v Burton Albion; Accrington Stanley v Hull City; Rochdale v Coventry City; ATHLETIC v Middlesbrough; Huddersfield Town v Notts County; Blackburn Rovers v Shrewsbury Town; Morecambe v Sheffield United; Doncaster Rovers v Leeds United; Wigan Athletic v Bury; Northampton Town v Blackpool; Sheffield Wednesday v Mansfield Town; Rotherham United v Cambridge United; Crewe Alexandra v Preston North End; York City v Bradford City; Port Vale v Burnley; Peterborough United v Crawley Town; Yeovil Town v Queens Park Rangers; Plymouth Argyle v Gillingham; Swindon Town v Exeter City; Bristol Rovers v Birmingham City; Ipswich Town v Stevenage; Luton Town v Bristol City; Charlton Athletic v Dagenham & Redbridge; Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newport County; Brentford v Oxford United; Portsmouth v Derby County; Southend United v Brighton; Milton Keynes Dons v Leyton Orient; Cardiff City v AFC Wimbledon; Millwall v Barnet; Wycombe Wanderers v Fulham; Colchester United v Reading.



twitter: @Matt_Chambers_